Dangling Participles

Raising calves is generally very pleasant for them.  We feed bottles and then buckets of milk which they like. We feed leafy organic hay in self serve buckets, which they like. We apply organic No Fly spray to ears and other parts which leaves a nice scent of cloves, which they like. We rub their necks and give them fresh cold water. Also well liked.

And then we castrate them.

Different than the cutting process done with piglets, castrating calves involves rubberbands. (Yeah, I see all you guys out there instinctively pulling your legs together. )  At a few weeks of age, and after we are sure the testicles have descended, Keith uses a special hand held device that pulls the rubberband wide and allows him to slip it up and over the testicles wrapping tight to the area that connects the testicle to the calves body.

The calves do jump and or kick for a few brief moments but then very quickly settle down and begin eating again . I am amazed by this. No human male I know would be able to concentrate on a meal, no matter how big the T-bone in front of him, if I had just lassoed his privates. Its not that animals don't perceive pain but I believe they percieve it differently. Or maybe their will to survive is actually stronger than ours.

After a couple of weeks the calves testicles shrivel up from the lack of blood circulation and just fall off.

A bull becomes a steer. And men all over the world feel a little shiver run through them. Not exactly the same as an angel getting her wings everytime a bell rings, but pretty close.

Medium Raw Please

            Keith brings in our herd for evening milking

They told us if we didn't stop selling raw milk they would stop buying our milk for the conventional market.  But we didn't listen. They told us we would never find enough people to buy raw milk and we'd be out of business in a month. We didn't listen. They told us they would not license us as a Grade A dairy anymore even though we'd have good inspections the last 11 years. We said fine. We'll still follow the rules just for kicks and giggles and because we believe in a good milk product. They told us people would not drive ALL THE WAY to our farm for raw milk but our customers didn't listen. They told us we'd be dumping most of our milk. Well, we do dump quite a bit of it, right into the trough for our feeder pigs.

 They look fabulous and taste scrumptious. We thought we would have to sell half our dairy herd. We've sold only five cows to four wonderful homesteads. (Yes, the Scholte family was brave enough to take TWO ) We're thinking we might need to keep more than we originally planned in order to meet the growing needs of our customers.

Keith helps our cow Pam adjust to her new home

                                               at Epiphany Farms in Downs Illinois

Supply and demand is working out very well here. Except for those days we forget to get milk for ourselves !!

So here we are 3 months into our new venture of selling all our milk...raw...direct from our farm and I have to say, its going well. On Mondays we often sell out. We've had to move some customers to other days. Since the article about our farm ran in GRAZE magazine last month,  http://www.grazeonline.com/  we've had 2-3 new milk customers every week. Some have driven as much as 3 hours one way to get to us. Thank you. Let me say it again . Thank You !

We do our best to make it worth the trip. We give tours of the farm. We let customers children actually TOUCH the farm animals.  Young children love to collect the feathers laying around. Not only do they collect the feathers, they turn themsleves into Lovely Peacock Lady and Angry Chicken Girl and write a play about those characters.

We also make it known we have 100% grass fed beef and pastured pork for sale . On good days the chickens cooperate enough to produce a few eggs to go with the bacon.

And we don't have to get up so early in order to get all the milking done before the milk truck comes. We milk on the best schedule for us and for our cows. Viva La Raw Milk !!!

Father of Invention

I am a selfish blogger. On our farm "me" stands for Myself Entirely because that is usually who I talk about when I get in front of the keyboard. But not today. Today I talk of Keith.

Keith Parrish is my husband and partner on the farm. Together we have raised four children, and hundreds of animals, often using the same techniques for both. We have learned that what is good for the goose often applies to the out of control teenager but I digress.

Keith can make most anything out of most anything. ( Really, take ME  for example. Once a bra-burning -man-hating-hemp-dressed-unshaven-feminist , I married Keith and evolved in the logically thinking conservative I am today. But again I digress ) Most recently he created this milk fountain for our market hogs.  I wish he would have thought of this when all four kids were still living at home. Would've have saved a lot of plate washing. Anyway...when we decided to raise hogs year round we budgeted for larger DRY grain feeders. We did not plan for ways to feed extra milk from our dairy. In the past, with just a few hogs, we would just hand carry buckets of milk to the hungry hog snouts. Now, with nearly 50 head of hogs to feed we needed something more efficient and SAFER. 50 hogs running into your legs looking for milk was getting a little hairy.

So here it is. The Milk-O-Matic or MOM is you'd prefer. A nice little substitute for the real thing.

The big white barrels hold the leftover milk from our dairy, that which has not been sold to our milk customers. The barrels are old soap barrels we got FREE  from The Corner Hardware Store in Chatsworth, Illinois. Keith fitted them at the bottom with $8 valves to allow the milk to flow out of the barrels. The barrels are supported by a hard plastic pallet which allows Keith to move the barrels from the milk house to the pig pasture with the forks on our Kubota tractor.

When Keith opens the valve on the spigot and the deliciously rich  milk comes pouring out , the pigs turn into growling, snarling, beasts of carnal desire. Like me when presented with a big plate of sizzling bacon. Ironic, no? Even more ironic, the trough is made from a PVC sewer pipe, 14 feet long with a 10 inch diameter, cut in half lengthwise. Yes, it was a clean, unused sewer pipe purchased from Kafer Tiling in Fairbury, Illinois for $120.

The trough is stabalized and blocked  at the ends with scrap iron and wood from Keiths "inventory".

The pipe width is perfect for many snouts to get their fair share of certified organic raw milk from 100% grass fed cows on pasture. Every day we get thank you cards from these little piggies. Some write better than others but all are special to us.

Some pigs get far enough into the trough to get little milk facials, making their skin that much softer and sweeter for our chefs (like Jared Van Camp of Old Town Social in Chicago) who love to make tasty dishes like Porchetta di Testa from the pigs head   . See how he does it at    http://www.somepig1.com/sta

Farming.  Everyday an adventure.

Raw Milk Renegades , the sequel

First of all the pin. It amuses me therefore I have it on my blog, but I do not for a moment think raw milk is the answer to all the illness in our lives. No one food product can heal on its own. I do however, believe raw milk is a great PART of a healthy diet and I also believe that as adults we have the right to ingest whatever food we choose to , be it raw milk, 100% grass fed beef, Java Stout beer (which is great with the beef) or a great big plastic wrapped Twinkie. This is still, although sadly a rapidly changing, America.

Which brings me to our issue with the company who buys our milk, or I should say, the issue our milk company is having with us .To recap, for the last 11 years we have shipped milk to company A. They pick up the milk every other day.On the off days we have several people who buy raw milk from us directly following Illinois State law. They come to our farm with their own containers , fill them and then drink the unpasturized, non-homoginized milk in the privacy and comfort of their own homes. Renegades, all of them. Recently milk company B made an uninvited visit to our farm suggesting we sign up with them as company A was planning to stop buying milk from dairies in our area.

The catch; company B tells us we must sign a statement saying we will not sell raw milk to private customers. Even though it is legal to do so in Illinois. Even though there is not a single proven case of raw milk related foodborne illness in Illinois, even though farmers have the right to sell products from their farm as a manner of making a living. Even though the conventional milk company pays us only 1/3 the price our private customers pay us.

.We asked for a copy of this written contract over 10 days ago. We have not received it.

Today a representative from company A called to inform us the head office was now "aware" of our selling raw milk and they wanted us to stop. Company A has never in the past given us anything in writing telling us it was against their policy to buy milk from farmers who sell raw milk off the farm. In fact, Company A, who again we have been selling milk to for ELEVEN YEARS, has never asked us to sign anything related to raw milk sales. Nor have we ever hidden the fact that we sell raw milk since it is legal to do so.

The representative went on to tell us we should expect to receive a letter in the mail very soon which would give us 30 days to stop selling an important farm product that has been proven to be very healthy for both children and adults. A product that provides needed revenue for us. A product people want. A product that Illinois State Law says we may sell.

All of this begs the question "Why don't you sell ALL of your milk direct to customers ?" We would like to, but our dilemma sits with Illinois State Law which states we can sell raw milk but we cannot advertise that we sell raw milk. What ?!?! Let me say that again. What ?!?! I can advertise my raw ground beef but not our raw milk ?  Seems the "Don't ask, don't tell " mentality isn't limited to the military. And what about this blog ? It appears I am practicing free speech, but what if every time I write the oh-so-frightening words RAW MILK in the same sentence as our farm South Pork Ranch, it is considered "advertising ?" The law, as written ,does not offer any interpretation of "advertise." I suppose I need to put a new item on my to-do list for tomorrow. Call the Illinois Department of Public Health and ask for some clarification.

We have options. Several of them. Once we make a decision on which path to follow I'll update you. Oh man, will I ever update you.

Hello, my name is...

South Pork Ranch.  A cross between the humor of South Park TV,  the drama of South Fork Ranch in Dallas, we are the new and improved dramatically fun South Pork Ranch LLC. We have been known as Green Acres Farm since our first cow Kiki graced us with our first glass of fresh milk but times "they are a changin'" and we need to change a little to keep up.

Our primary reason for the name change was confusion. NO, NOT MINE !! Seems Green Acres Farm is a name others had thought of and had been using. Not so much here in Livingston County but as we moved (literally, in the back of our pickup) our product a little farther away from the protective fencing of our farm, we ran into more folks with our name. Some of these similar named farms even recieved our payment checks from some of our customers. Not to worry, all folks with the name "Green Acres" were good folks and returned the checks, but it cinched our decision for a name change.

Son Colton, is working on the new website, with a very similar appearance and links from old site to new site. Our LLC (limited liability company paperwork is complete and being filed with the state of Illinois) and a professional artist has been hired to take our niece Micahs new farm logo, to a print -ready status. In the meantime...the sows and cows could care less what the sign at the end of our lane says, as long as the great quality organic hay keeps on coming until spring brings back the fresh green grass we are all missing. Hmmm "sows and cows" now THAT is a great name for a new reality show.

Little Debbie update: Udder fuller, teats hanging lower, UPS delivered a huge box of Huggies to the pig condo last night. Seems we're getting closer to birth of South Pork Ranch's first litter of Red Wattle babies.  Keep those hooves crossed.

Beyond (???) Organic

January 2, 2009

There is a popular term making the rounds in the sustainable farming world. It is "Beyond Organic." As with any other term without government regulation, the meaning is often varied and inconsistent. Those farmers who use this term will state on their web sites "We have chosen not to be certified organic but instead we have decided to go beyond." Kinda reminds me of the movie Toy Story "To Infinity and Beeyoond !"

When a friend of ours recently told me his farm was "beyond organic" I asked him if he had ever read the National Organic Program Standards for Organic Certification (All my friends at work just rolled their eyes way back up into their heads as they know how obnoxious I can be when it comes to "standards".) He admitted that he had not. "Therefore" said I, "how can you go beyond organic if you do not even know the definition of organic ?" ( as far as farming goes ) He then put his foot ALLLLLL the way in his mouth by saying that organic means "no chemicals, no antibiotics."

Well Kemo Sabe, to be certified organic one has to go way BEYOND just the elimination of chemicals and antibiotics. Over 100 specific standards beyond. Then you must be surveyed by an expert in the field who decides whether or not you have met the standards. Its a tremendous amount of work and commitment. I equate it to the CNA (Certified Nurse Aide who will say to me "There's no reason for me to go to college I'm practically a nurse anyway" Those statements practically set the hair on the back of my neck on fire. Especially since it took me FIVE years to get a three year nursing diploma. I had little babies and worked part time while in nursing school. I take my education seriously just like I take our organic certification seriously.

So enough theory, lets do a real care plan on a real sick calf. We have one now. He was born several weeks ago and did well at first. About three weeks ago we noticed scours (loose manure). The calf was in a warm, well bedded hutch but the surrounding environment was very wet and the weather kept changing from cold to warm and back. A perfect bacteria hotel. We suspected the causitive organism (based on color and consistency of manure) was E. Coli and so we treated with the addition of Aloe Vera juice twice a day. The weather got cold, everything froze. He improved.

A week later and the temp is in its 50's, hutches are bedded well but the calves can go back and forth in and out of them. This same calf develops scours again but now with pink flecks. We now know it is Coccidiosis. A single celled parasite that affects the intestine. We return to one of our best resources. "Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals" by Paul Detloff DVM. He recommends adding Calf Shield (powdered electrolytes) to the Aloe Vera we've been giving with the calves milk. But first we decide to make the calf NPO for a feeding and give its gut a break. We also cut back on the amount of milk we're giving AND we double check the temperature of the milk.

Milk temp is another important factor when feeding calves. It should be as close to the temperature it would be coming directly from the mother cow as possible. We realize the 5-10 minutes it takes me to get to the barn to feed the calves after Keith calls me to tell me he has enough milk to do do, is enough to cool the milk too much. So we try ANOTHER intervention. Keith fills a large rubber pan with hot water to hold the milk can and keep the milk warm until I can fill the calf bottles.

A week of Aloe Vera and Calf Shield in the twice a day feedings as well as a noon feeding of warm water, organic molasses and Calf Shield and our calf is not worse but not better. This is where it gets hard for me. Organic standards do allow treatment with antibiotics if the life of the animal is at risk. Once given however the animal loses its organic status and cannot be sold as such. Antibiotics do work fast but was it best for THIS animal ? We decided to take the calf and one of his closest hutch mates (also with some scours but not bad) into the barn. A new environment, all warm and dry with a new buddy to cheer him on. If he did not improve by the next day...antibiotics here we come.

Withing 24 hours we saw tremendous improvement. The calves eyes were brighter, his appetite improved, he was more active. He looked better. Was it the environment change ? The addition of a buddy calf ? Our puppy Fanny sleeping next to him ? Or did we just give nature, with a little help from organically certified supplements, enough time to cure this calf ? We don't know for sure but we do know it took a lot of time and effort and thought for this ONE calf. Which is why we don't take the term "Certified Organic" lightly.

Little House on the Dairy

August 26, 2009

This little house is our feed shed. Lights left on by some farmwife in rubber boots and worn thin Old Navy shorts, rushing through chores. On my way back from the barn after dark, I saw it and stopped for 10 whole seconds. I liked the way the light poured through the window and the door, the way the yard light behind me illuminated the old claw foot tub full of morning glory vines. I liked the way the peeling paint on the walls looked more silver and mysterious and less like just one more task I had not yet accomplished this summer.

I liked our farm.

But...I am worried about it. After 5 months of phone calls, meetings, and emails, the creamery we trusted to be buying our organic milk backed out of the deal. No written contracts had been signed but verbal offers were made and hands were shaken. Once upon a time that meant good business. Now it means we are back to ground zero after months of work. We have a great product. 100% grass fed organic milk from a herd of hard working bovines with udders to die for.
Do we relinquish our organic certification and return to the conventional milk world ? Or maybe we can take the heart breaking step so many dairy farmers have taken before us and sell our herd, close our barn doors? Or do we enter the cow-share world and distribute milk directly to our customers.? Or do turn 360 degrees and assume HUGE debt while opening our own bottling plant ? Or raise minks ? Or sell hemp purses ? Or what ? (I am so Jessica Lange in "Country" are'nt I?)

We don't know. What we do know is we want to farm. Organically and profitably. And we want other people to enjoy the milk we produce with all its benefits. We know we have the support of our family and friends whatever choice we make. Except for the minks, we're more denim folk. So, if you have the faith, prayers would be welcome. And if you have money and are so inclined, when you see a bottle of organic milk in your store with a Smirking Green Acres Cow on the label, we'd appreciate your patronage.

Please and thank you.

How Now Brown Cow ?

July 30, 2009

Calving takes place year round on Green Acres Farm. In the warm weather it is almost always in the pasture and an uneventful occurrence. This past Tuesday Keith noticed a cow in labor and grabbed our granddaughter Allana just in time to witness another birth. She was impressed but a little more worried about the thistles poking her legs.

What always amazes me is how attentive and interested the rest of the herd is. The moment that new babe is born they are poking their noses into things.

"No wonder she birthed so easy
what with that tiny tangerine
sized head, my Eggbert had a head the size of a beach ball. Now THAT was labor !"

Plant it and they will come.

July 29, 2009

When my husband first told me months ago we were going to plant SorghumXSudan Grass, I did my usual smile and nod trick. I know a large amount about what goes on around our farm and there is a large amount I don't know. And at that time I had no idea why he wanted to plant some syrupy grass from an Mid Eastern country . Turns out its not sticky at all (until it breaks down a little), its available right here in the US of A and it will help us meet the nutritional needs our 100% grass fed herd. It is also a frost sensitive, warm season erect annual grass that proves to be quite drought resistant. So he planted it, and it grew. Then came time to prepare it for winter silage.

We're small farmers. We have small equipment. So at times we need to hire friends and neighbors to help with certain tasks. This was one of those times







First came the Schaeffer family who hauled in
their bagger/chopper and sileage wagons.






Following them was Matt Stork who brought forth his hay mower and tractor. (Matt had cut the grass for us the day before). Our son Jason came by to help as well. So with the sun shining above the work began

.



The grass after being cut before chopping began














Gathering up the grass with the chopper and
blowing it into the wagon.









Transferring the sileage from the wagon into the bagger.












The completed bag filled full with sileage to be used this next winter.